Boyne City/East Jordan Road North changing name to save lives

August 18, 2010|By David Hopkins News-Review Staff Writer

The road sign for Boyne City/East Jordan Road North stands at the corner of M-75 in Boyne City on Monday, Aug. 16, but the name will soon be changing. The name of the road is being changed to avoid confusion with repeating house numbers along the road.

The Wilson Township Board met with residents of Boyne City-East Jordan North Road at a special meeting Tuesday to discuss changing the name of the road for safety reasons.

Because of an unusual repeat in house numbers along the road there have been problems with emergency crews being dispatched to the wrong homes along the road. A change in the name of the road from where it intersects with Deer Lake Road north should remove any confusion and could save lives.

"We have to change the name of Boyne City/East Jordan Road North because it gets mixed up with 9-1-1 calls and could cost someone their life," said Todd Sorenson, Wilson Township supervisor.

For many years the road, which starts in Boyne City at M-75 and ends in East Jordan, was simply called the Boyne City-East Jordan Road, but citizens started seeing a problem where the road took an abrupt turn at Deer Lake Road.

Advertisement

House numbers in the township are set up on a grid system. Addresses on east-west roads start at zero on the eastern edge of the township and go up by 1,000 for every block to the west. Addresses on north-south roads start at zero on the northern edge of the township and go up by 1,000 for every block to the south.

The Boyne City-East Jordan Road, which takes a sharp turn at Deer Lake Road, has house numbers on the east-west section that are repeated on the north-south section, Sorenson said.

In 1992 the township tried to fix the problem by calling the north-south stretch of the road Boyne City-East Jordan Road North. The addition of "North" to the road name was supposed to end confusion.

"Everyone was supposed to have been informed of the change," Sorenson said. "But many still didn't specify whether they were on Boyne City-East Jordan Road North or on just Boyne City-East Jordan Road when they called in emergencies."

Sorenson went on to explain that the 9-1-1 operators also had difficulty discerning between the two road names and dispatched crews to the wrong section of road.

In October 2009 the problem became more apparent when a man living on Boyne City-East Jordan Road North died. His wife called 9-1-1 and an ambulance was dispatched. Ambulance personnel went to the wrong block and searched for the house, but were more than seven miles from the actual house.

The mix up with the house number wasn't the cause of the man's death, but the township became aware of the potential for such a situation and decided something had to be done.

"So far it hasn't caused a critical problem, but we're faced with the potential for that happening," Sorenson said.

Once the name change for the road is made — a step that’s expected to occur during the township board’s regular meeting on Sept. 8 — it will take 30 days to have signs made and installed.

"The house numbers will all remain the same," Sorenson said. "The only thing that will change will be the name of the road from Deer Lake Road north to Boyne City. This will help take away the confusion with repeating numbers."

After the name change is official, residents along the newly-named road will be responsible for changing their street address with the post office.

So far there are two name suggestions for the road: Fall Road and Fall Park Road. The names come from a longtime family name in the township. The road name will be voted on at the next township meeting.

Information regarding the change of the road name will be sent to residents along the road by next week and they are encouraged to attend the township board meeting on Sept. 8.